Improvement in apparatus for lifting locomotives, trucks, and railroad cars



PATENT QFFICE.

GRAFTON T. NUTTER, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR LIFTING LOCOMOTIVES, TRUCKS, AND RAILROAD CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 114,328, dated May 2, 1871.

Be it known that I, GRAFTON T. NU'ITER, of Jersey City, in the State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Machine for Lifting Locomotives, Tenders, and Freight and Passenger Cars upon Railroads, and elevatin g the same over and above the track for the purpose of shifting the trucks or runninggear from a narrow to a wide gauge, or vice versa.

The nature of m yinvention consists in a combination of shafts, cog-wheels, pinions, and screws, firmly held in a metallic or wooden frame, and arranged in such manner as to cause the said wheels to act simultaneously upon a series of perpendicular screws placed at or near the extreme points of the frame, thereby cansin gthe said screws to revolve either to the right or the left, and to elevate or withdraw a inovable platform attached thereto.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use myinvention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The Frame.

The frame A A maybe of wood or metal, having sufficient strength to resist the weight of the pressure of the locomotive or car raised by the lifting-screws. No particular form of frame is absolutely required, but the whole must be so arranged and fastened together with bolts and sockets or bearings as to bring the liftingscrews and their connectingmachinery into their proper positions when attached thereto.

The L'zlftt'ng-iS'ercwe.

At or near the extreme points of the frame are set, in bearings or sockets, the liftingscrews B B. These may be at any required distance from each other and from the center of the frame. Immediately above the lower socket-bearings of the screws is attached a beveled cog-wheel, G G, the cogs being on its under face. These wheels may be of any suitable diameter and weight of metal.

The llfooable Bars.

Two strong timbers or metallic bars, D D, are rested upon each pair or set of screws, and sustained in position or moved up a-nd down by means of the screws which are worked within a series of nuts, E E, said nuts being of metal and screwed or otherwise fastened to the un der side of the bars D D.

The Center Wheels.

The large center wheels F F consist of an upright shaft or pinion properly adjusted to sockets or journals, to which are aflixed two co g-wheels, to wit: An upper wheel, being the largest of the two, and having its cogs beveled from their inner circle downward, or vice versa; and a lesser cog-wheel, with its cogs beveled in the inverse order, or from their inner circle upward, or vice versa.

The Horizontal Shafts.

From the lower center wheel -to the several cog-wheels of the screws above described horizontal shafts G G are extended and held in sockets or journals of a suitable construction. To the inner extreme of each shaft is attached a cog-wheel, H H, beveled, and geared to the lower central wheel, and upon its outer extreme is attached a smaller cog-wheel, beveled, and geared in a corresponding manner to the wheel (J of the lifting-screws. It will be observed that the revolving of the center wheel either to the right or the left contributes motion to the several shafts and thence to the lifting-screws.

Direct Application of Power. a

in motion and run by steam or other suitable power.

Mode of Operation.

The machine constructed as above is to be stationed underneath a section of the railroad track at the point where the change from a narrow. to a wide gauge or track, or vice versa, is to be effected. The cars are then brought into position between the two beams or bars. Two or more strong bars orlevers are then placed transversely beneath the car, and resting at either end upon the said beams; the power being then applied and the machinery set in motion, with a right action upon the screws, the movable platform or series of bars is forced upward, carrying with it the car. By the inverse motion of the machine the same is lowered.

I do not claim as my invention any one of the several parts of machinery above described; but

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of four or more shafts with specified. 7 V W GRAFTQN T. NUTTER.

'Witnesses d T, D. J ERMAN, ALEXANDER MILLER. 

